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'(ModeL') A. T. FINN & W. S. ARCHER.

Animal Fiber, 8L0 1--0.5235,519., Patented Dec. 14,1880.

-NP EI'ERS. PMQTO-uTHoGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. n. O.

i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AROHIBALD T.. FINN, OF NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM S. ARCHER, OF YONKERS, ASSIGNORS TO THE DUPLEX FIBER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ANIMAL FIBERS, etc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,519, dated December 14, 1880.

Application filed October], 1880.

( Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, AROHIBALD T. FINN, of the city. county, and State of New York, and WILLIAM S. ARCHER, of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement; in Animal Fibers, 860., of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section of a machine by which thefiber which is the subject of this application may be produced. Fig. 2 is a view showing, as exactly as it is practicable to illustrate it, the appearance of the kangaroo fiber magnified one hundred diameters. Fig. 3 shows the same magnified five hundred diameters, and Fig. 4 illustrates the appearance of the bison fiber in creased about five hundred diameters.

The invention relates to an improvementin animal fibers; and it consists, essentially, in the production of a fiber from the fur or second coat of the kangaroo. The hide of the kangaroo is covered with a matting of coarse hair intermixed with a second coat of fine for or similar material.

It-has been customary heretofore to remove the hair and second coat in a mass by the usual methods employed in treating hides, and the hair and fur have been regarded as of little practical value or marketed for uses to which the cheapest kinds of hair are applied.

It has not been attempted, we believe, to separate the fur or second coat from the hair, nor has it been known that the for if withdrawn possessed any qualities which make it valuable.

After much study and experiment we have succeeded in separating the for or second coat,

and have thus produced by proper treatment a fiber which possesses many of the qualities of the knownfurs and wools now in use, which is of great value in the fabrication of perhaps all kinds of articles inwhich afelter is used.

We have found that this fiber is superior in many respects to the other animal fibers now on the market. Under power of one hundred diameters, as shown in Fig. 2, the kangaroo fiber is for the most part round and smooth with the appearance of crossJines, which, uno der a microscope of five hundred powers, develop into joints. The fiber consequently felts very closely and tightly, andthe article, when completed, has an exceptionally smooth and finished appearance, which is probably to be attributed to the closely-jointed nature of the fiber, its outline, and the fact that it is not curly. Ithas been discovered thataniinal fibers generally are'irregular in form, some portions being flat and others round; that what may be termed their joints are not close and even, and that, owing to their tendency to curl or kink, they do not produce a perfectly smooth surface. It is believed that in these particulars our new fiber is essentially superior to all other known animal fibers.

We have discovered that this fiber has qualities which make it of especial value in the manufacture of hats. It may be combined with wool or fur, or both wool and fur, and the compound formed into hats of a superior character, the same methods being practiced as are made use of in the production of ordinary wool or other hats.

While hats may be made of our newly-discovered fiber alone, we recommend that it be combined with wool or for in equal proportions, or that an excess of the known felters be employed. The proportion used, however, is a matter of judgment to be determined by the skilled operator, according to the circumstances of the case.

We either obtain the combined hair and for in the mass as it is removed from the hide, or we remove it from the hide ourselves, as may be convenient.

In treating the hair and for or second coat, which are very intimately interwoven and interlocked, we take the mass and thoroughly wash and dry it in any convenient way, when 0 it is ready for the more important steps in its treatment, which will be consummated by the machine represented in the accompanying drawings, in which A denotes the frame, supplied at its front end with the feed-apron B 5 and feed-rolls 0, arranged so that the mate- We 1 wae ar t rial will pass over the apron, toward and between the rolls,to a picker, D. The picker D is a horizontal drum of appropriate size, supplied over its surface with teeth a, and, by preference, with fans I), for the purpose of creat ing currents of air to be employed in the operation of the machine.

The sides of the machine will be inclosed to prevent the entrance or escape of air.

Above the picker 1) may be placed a hood, E, within which is a damper or screen, H, consistiug of a flat piece of material, hinged or otherwise secured to the rear wall of the hood, so that its outer edge can be elevated or depressed at will. The purpose of the damper is to regulate the current of air created by the picker. \Vhen the outer edge of the damper is elevated it willoperatc to increase, and when depressed to decrease, the strength or velocity of the current.

I J are stops arranged in proper relation to the picker to catch the coarse hair and cause it to fall to the front part of the machine, when it may be swept away or removed at will.

Any suitable means may be adopted to actuate the machine.

\Vhen in use the picker 1) will be rotated with great speed-say about thirty-five hundred revolutionsa minute-toward the rolls (J.

We particularly recommend that the greatest care be exercised in the adjustment of the stops, and in the employment of such as are adapted to the particular service to be performed.

The constructions described are suited to the separation of average material of all usual sizes; but it will not always be practicable to make use of them in the exact forms shown and described. These forms will be modified by the skilled operator without difficulty, and thus made to perform their ofiice under any conditions that can be foreseen.

The forms shown, however, may be successfully employed without change in the effectuation of the chief object for which we contemplate their use--the separation of the hair andfur when in the condition in which they are usually offered in the market.

In practice it will usually be expedient to have the coarser wisps or locks, which are sold as part of the stock, removed by hand before the material is delivered at the apron. It will also be expedient to wash the stock, and, generall y, to observe the steps which are customary in the preparation of wool or for for the picker.

We are aware that machines of different kinds have been employed for separating furs and wool, such as are illustrated in the English patents of Barker and Harris, No. 4,574 of 1821, for machinery for cleaning furs and wool from kemps and hairs, and that of Birch and Bradbury, No. 2,106 of 1857, for apparatus for clearing and mixing hatters furs.

We do not claim these machines, nor any machine whatever in this application; nor do we confine our claim to any machine; but

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A fiber produced from the for or second coat of the kangaroo, substantial] y as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a hat composed wholly or in part of fiber produced from the for or second coat of the kangaroo.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing im provement in animal fibers, as above described, we have hereunto set our hands this 24th day of September, 1880.

ARGHIBALD T. FINN. WILLIAM S. ARCHER.

Witnesses CHAS. C. GILL, ROWLAND Cox. 

